CLEVELAND (AP) — Derek Anderson knows he could have been the quarterback traded to Seattle. It could be him, not Charlie Frye, standing on the Seahawks’ sideline. It could be him, not Frye, running the scout team in practice.
Anderson, whose emergence has the Cleveland Browns dreaming big, understands it all could be very different if he had been dealt.
"Could," he snapped. "Didn’t."
The simple, candid reply doesn’t fully explain a difficult, complex decision by the Browns that altered the course of their season, uprooted Frye and sent him across the country, and dropped Cleveland’s former starter to No. 3 on Seattle coach Mike Holmgren’s depth chart.
On Sunday, Anderson and Frye, two close friends whose every pass, handoff and overthrow were dissected and overanalyzed for months, will be on opposite sidelines as the Browns (4-3) host the Seahawks (4-3).
The last time Anderson and Frye walked off a field together was on Sept. 9, when the Browns were hammered in their home opener 34-7 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Frye had started that day after winning a spiral-tight competition through training camp and the exhibition season over Anderson.
But by halftime, Frye had been benched after being sacked five times and throwing an interception. Two days later, the kid who grew up in Willard, Ohio, dreaming of guiding the Browns to a Super Bowl was scrambling to pack a suitcase. He was on his way to Seattle, swapped for an undisclosed draft pick.
Cleveland became the first team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to deal its Week 1 starter before its second game.
Headlines read: Charlie Fryed.
"I don’t think anyone realized that rope was going to be that short," Frye said. "But that’s the way it went down."
The stunning move was followed days later by something equally shocking. Anderson, in just his fourth career start, tied a club record with five TD passes in a 51-45 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The former sixth-round pick has been rolling ever since, and enters this week’s game with 17 TD passes, second only to Tom Brady’s 30 for the New England Patriots.
Anderson has thrown six scoring passes, five to wide receiver Braylon Edwards, in the past two weeks and he’s spreading the ball around to tight end Kellen Winslow and sure-handed wide receiver Joe Jurevicius.
Holmgren, regarded as one of the NFL’s premier quarterback evaluators, has been impressed with Anderson’s ascension. Seattle’s defence, which has given up just five TD passes, has its hands full.
"He’s obviously capable of making big plays," Holmgren said. "He has a big arm. They are just very good and they are playing with a lot of confidence. It’s a tremendous challenge for us. You’ve got big receivers. You’ve got a good quarterback. You’ve got a good team. That’s going to be a challenge for us."
Before landing Frye, Holmgren had been shopping around for an experienced quarterback to replace Seneca Wallace as starter Matt Hasselbeck’s backup. Holmgren’s preference was to use Wallace primarily at wide receiver. He didn’t like the risk of getting Wallace hurt while filling in at QB.
It wasn’t easy for Frye, but he’s fit in nicely with a new team in a new town.
"I also know it’s hard when you’ve been the starter and now all of a sudden you’re watching," Holmgren said. "There is a transition period where you’re kind of grouchy about everything. But he’s handled it so well. I really like him a lot."
The Seahawks have been using Frye’s intimate knowledge of Cleveland’s offence to prepare for this week’s game. Frye can help Seattle’s defence recognize formations, check-offs and tendencies.
Once the ball is snapped, however, Anderson knows there won’t be a thing Frye can do but watch.
"I’m sure there are some things that he can help them out with a little bit, but we’ve evolved since he’s been gone and changed a few things," he said. "I’d say that you can give them everything that you want, but you still have to go out there and they don’t know what play is coming."
Seahawks safety Brian Russell should be able to help some, too. He spent two seasons with Cleveland before signing as a free agent with Seattle in March.
But Holmgren said quarterbacks provide a unique perspective, one he’ll study — to a point.
"We’ve talked to Charlie," Holmgren said. "What you have to be careful of is when you get the information, that’s not what you rely on solely. You must go off the films and the things you would go off of if you didn’t have that player. You can’t take short cuts just because you have a player.
"We have not done that."
Or as Anderson might say: Could. Didn’t.
